Iggy Pop has puked on his audience, rolled around in broken glass and exposed himself to crowds. But on his new album, the 61-year-old rocker does something that may shock people — he sings in French. The Stooges frontman shows off his multilingualism On "Autumn Leaves," a track off Préliminaires, due out May 19th. The record was inspired by French author Michel Houellebecq's 2005 novel, The Possibility of An Island. "As I read scenes in the book, I felt music in my head," says Pop, who also composed a score for the book's forthcoming film adaptation. "I wrote less and less for the movie and started writing an alternative score to the novel."

The disc — which features trombones and clarinets — lifts its sound from 1920s New Orleans. "We get dangerously near jazz," says Pop, who cut tracks in Woodstock and Miami. "At first, I thought, 'If I want to pee and I don't do it with a sign that says Progenitor of Punk, people don't want to know about it.' Luckily, at this point in my life, I don't care very much."

In other Iggy news, the rocker recently nominated saucy electro provocateur Peaches to cover his "Search and Destroy" for War Child's Heroes compilation, a charity disc for kids living in war-torn regions. "I get a big shot of pleasure every time I hear her music," Iggy says of the Canadian singer, with whom he's collaborated on several tracks in the past. "All the better since it was one of my songs."

Pop — whose longtime Stooges bandmate, guitarist Ron Asheton, died in January — also hinted at the group's future plans. "We have a large vault, and I've been fooling around with different ways to approach vocals," he says. The band is also "developing something with a dramatic filmmaker," but Iggy declined to elaborate. What about rumors that Sex Pistols' guitarist Steve Jones might join the Stooges? "I talked to Steve, and if I wanted an extra guitar, he'd be the guy to call," says Iggy. "The group still exists. I'm not gonna tell you more than that."